Michael Phelps Discusses What's Next For Him in Business

Michael Phelps is sprawled on a couch in a Lower Manhattan hotel, sporting a beard, a gray beanie cap, a white T-shirt and Under Armour sweatpants and sneakers, an athlete in repose. He's in New York to accept yet another lifetime achievement award for his triumphs in five Olympic Games, another chance for him and others to revel in his past glories. What Phelps wants to talk about now, however, is the future. "I've spent decades staring at that black line at the bottom of a pool," he says. "I'm ready to do something new. I'm ready to channel my competitiveness into something else."